72 dengue cases reported in 15 days at Cuttack hospital

Cuttack: The state-run SCB Medical College Hospital here has received 72 dengue cases in the past 15 days. The spurt in dengue cases has followed a drop in temperature and rain. A special dengue ward was made operational for such patients on July 16. In the past six days, an average of seven persons have tested positive for dengue daily at the hospital. While 25 to 30 patients exhibiting dengue-like symptoms are being seen daily at the outdoor departments, an average of four cases are needing admission. "Free blood tests and emergency treatment are being provided to patients suffering from dengue," said Sriprasad Mohanty, assistant nodal officer for the treatment of dengue cases. "At the casualty and outdoor departments, patients with suspected dengue are being thoroughly checked and admitted without delay," Mohanty said. The blood samples of 573 people have been tested since July 16; of them, 72 samples tested positive. The patients were admitted for treatment. "At present, 42 patients, including five in the ICU, are undergoing treatment. The rest of the patients have been cured and discharged," Mohanty said. "The special dengue unit at the hospital can accommodate 120 patients. We also have eight ICU beds for such cases," he added.

So far, cases of dengue, caused by the aedes mosquito, have been reported from Jajpur, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Angul, Cuttack, Deogarh, Mayurbhanj and Puri districts. However, most of the patients worked in Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru and several were young IT professionals, hospital sources said. There were also some patients who had never stepped outside their village, hospital sources said. Doctors at the hospital said water in air coolers, pots in puja rooms and containers behind the refrigerator should be changed every day. Waste materials containing water should be removed from the localities.